benefit of the doubt
i desire to be understood. i think it's one of my strengths. it drives me to write and speak as clearly as i can. it causes me to think a lot about what i do, say, and think. intentionality.
"i like you." (for example)
it's also one of my biggest weaknesses. when i'm not understood it frustrates me. to the point that i will attempt to explain until there are no words left to use. then i'll try rearranging words. put them in a different order. maybe that will help.
"you like i" no that doesn't help. rarely does it.
i can hardly sit still when someone misunderstands me. my mom says i should give people the benefit of the doubt. i take that to mean i should assume they are smart enough to get what i mean. they'll figure it out.
when i really think about it, it's a faith issue. can God really work it out even if i'm not understood? will the world really keep spinning? yeah, it will robby. believe it or not. jesus was misunderstood. big time. lots of times. but then again, i think that frustrated him too...but of course, if you misunderstand jesus, your world might actually stop spinning...
Thursday, February 23, 2006
weight gainer
in an effort to bulk up my body a bit, i've started drinking a weight gainer shake after i work out. if i have a full serving, the shake provides 1850 calories full of vitamins, minerals, carbs, and of course, PROTEIN. it's kind of like drinking chocolate concrete mix. mmm mmm good.
my muscular roommate made the comment, "people think they can get big just by lifting weights, but if you're not putting the right foods in your body, hard weight lifting will only tear your body apart." (right now my roommates are all arguing over whose the "muscular" one...) i've been told if i eat and work out correctly, i can put ten pounds of muscle on my body in twelve weeks!
there's a phrase i've just recently been introduced to..."weightier christian". i want to be a weightier christian. unmoveable. deep roots. solid foundation. my physical regiment tells me that if i'm to become a weightier christian it'll take a combination of filling my body with the right food (truth, scripture), and hard core exercising (applying the knowledge i've stored up).
and just as it is with physical strength building, i won't see a difference on a daily basis. when i look in the mirror with my shirt off each morning (come on, you know you do it too), my pecs don't really look that much bigger...but i bet if i didn't take my shirt off for three months, i would notice a measurable difference when i finally did (and i bet i'd stink a little too!).
"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" 1 corinthians 3:1-3
in an effort to bulk up my body a bit, i've started drinking a weight gainer shake after i work out. if i have a full serving, the shake provides 1850 calories full of vitamins, minerals, carbs, and of course, PROTEIN. it's kind of like drinking chocolate concrete mix. mmm mmm good.
my muscular roommate made the comment, "people think they can get big just by lifting weights, but if you're not putting the right foods in your body, hard weight lifting will only tear your body apart." (right now my roommates are all arguing over whose the "muscular" one...) i've been told if i eat and work out correctly, i can put ten pounds of muscle on my body in twelve weeks!
there's a phrase i've just recently been introduced to..."weightier christian". i want to be a weightier christian. unmoveable. deep roots. solid foundation. my physical regiment tells me that if i'm to become a weightier christian it'll take a combination of filling my body with the right food (truth, scripture), and hard core exercising (applying the knowledge i've stored up).
and just as it is with physical strength building, i won't see a difference on a daily basis. when i look in the mirror with my shirt off each morning (come on, you know you do it too), my pecs don't really look that much bigger...but i bet if i didn't take my shirt off for three months, i would notice a measurable difference when i finally did (and i bet i'd stink a little too!).
"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" 1 corinthians 3:1-3
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
prison
the office building i work in blocks all internet traffic to email websites. this means gmail, yahoo, and hotmail are all blocked. luckily for me, however, there's the slightest wireless signal coming in through the walls, probably from an apartment complex next door. seriously, on days when i am insanely bored at work, gmail is the only thing that keeps me sane. imagine, if you will, being in a prison cell with only one tiny window. every now and then you press your mouth up to the window to get a single breath of fresh air. just enough to allow you to continue a little while longer.
yesterday the wireless disappeared. all hope left me. fear of insanity crept over. it was like someone bricking in the single tiny window that allowed me to breathe. oh, the agony!
then i rebooted, and it worked again. i said a prayer in thanksgiving.
the office building i work in blocks all internet traffic to email websites. this means gmail, yahoo, and hotmail are all blocked. luckily for me, however, there's the slightest wireless signal coming in through the walls, probably from an apartment complex next door. seriously, on days when i am insanely bored at work, gmail is the only thing that keeps me sane. imagine, if you will, being in a prison cell with only one tiny window. every now and then you press your mouth up to the window to get a single breath of fresh air. just enough to allow you to continue a little while longer.
yesterday the wireless disappeared. all hope left me. fear of insanity crept over. it was like someone bricking in the single tiny window that allowed me to breathe. oh, the agony!
then i rebooted, and it worked again. i said a prayer in thanksgiving.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Glorify? Huh?
I've often been confused about the word "glorify". To say, "they glorified God." What does that mean? What does it mean to glorify God? Can we humans really give God more glory than He already has? Can we actually take some glory away from God? That would give us an awful lot of power, don't you think? Does God need us to glorify Him at all? To me, the word "glorify" carries with it the connotation that we are adding a quantifiable substance (here, glory) to a pool of glory that God is in possession of. So then when we praise Him we put more glory in that pool and when we are sinful we take some glory out of that pool.
After researching the Greek I think this is where English has failed me. Perhaps a better word to use is "acknowledge". The word "glorify" in Greek is "doxazo" (δοξάζω Strong's 1392). One of the meanings is "to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged." I replaced it with "acknowledge" (or one of its derivatives i.e. acknowledged, etc) in each verse where the word "doxazo" is used. The verses made more sense to me than they ever had before. Here's an example:
"WOW God! You have more glory in your pool than I can possibly comprehend!"
Think about it and consider how this line of thinking might affect things.
After researching the Greek I think this is where English has failed me. Perhaps a better word to use is "acknowledge". The word "glorify" in Greek is "doxazo" (δοξάζω Strong's 1392). One of the meanings is "to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged." I replaced it with "acknowledge" (or one of its derivatives i.e. acknowledged, etc) in each verse where the word "doxazo" is used. The verses made more sense to me than they ever had before. Here's an example:
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ John 8:54 (ESV)Now replace it with the word "acknowledge":
54 Jesus answered, “If I acknowledge myself, my acknowledgement is nothing. It is my Father who acknowledges me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ (Robby's translation, I guess)Based on these thoughts my point is this: I don't think we can add to or take away any glory from God's pool...regardless of what we do, think, say, or believe. I think when we "glorify God", as it says in our English translations, we are actually acknowledging the glory God already has and deserves.
"WOW God! You have more glory in your pool than I can possibly comprehend!"
Think about it and consider how this line of thinking might affect things.
Friday, February 10, 2006
whack dating
the christian dating culture is askew. let me tell you why. this is the story i hear from both sides over
and over
and over
again.
guys don't ask girls out. (i'll get to the "reason" in a moment.) girls complain that guys don't ask them out, and rightfully so, because guys don't. a guy decides, despite the "reason" (still to-be-defined), that he will ask a girl out because she intrigues him...mind you, not necessarily because he is interested in her on a romantic level. guy asks girl out. since guys don't ask girls out in general, girl figures guy must really like her. this scares girl. too much, too fast in her mind. girl assumes guy has major intentions and the "reason" happens. drama. girl either...
a) turns guy down immediately
b) goes on date but doesn't have very good time because she's too concerned about guy's intentions
either option further facilitates original statement: guys don't ask girls out.
an exception to this (perhaps THE exception to this) is if the girl likes the guy before he asks her out. in which case, neither "a" or "b" take place, but rather an unusual "c", whereby the girl goes on the date excitedly.
so, the question might be asked, "what caused this culture, robby?" and i would then give my theory..."the ever-so-popular gospel that one shouldn't date unless they are pursuing marriage."
now, before you Christian-non-daters freak out at me, let me unpack that statement. the point of that gospel is to prevent someone from wasting his (or her) time and, more importantly, making an idol of girl after girl after girl and getting their heart broken time and time and time again. but, as we people tend to do, we've taken what is a good principle and taken it to the extreme. now, the guy thinks, "i shouldn't ask a girl out unless i'm sure she's The One" and the girl thinks, "i should turn down the date unless i think he might be The One". the end result is we begin seeing people for who they could be, rather than who they are.
guys, why not take a girl out to make her feel special, and show her a good time? don't worry about what she could be...just enjoy who she is. if she could be, and she's meant to be, then she will be without you having to worry about it. girls, same principle. an acorn grows into an oak tree without worrying about how...it just happens...that's how God made it.
i think the marriage pursuit is an active-passive deal. actively, you desire it, pray for it, and take steps you believe might lead to it (in faith). passively, you wait for it, knowing that in the big picture it's way more about God doing something in another person's heart than about anything you can control.
the christian dating culture is askew. let me tell you why. this is the story i hear from both sides over
and over
and over
again.
guys don't ask girls out. (i'll get to the "reason" in a moment.) girls complain that guys don't ask them out, and rightfully so, because guys don't. a guy decides, despite the "reason" (still to-be-defined), that he will ask a girl out because she intrigues him...mind you, not necessarily because he is interested in her on a romantic level. guy asks girl out. since guys don't ask girls out in general, girl figures guy must really like her. this scares girl. too much, too fast in her mind. girl assumes guy has major intentions and the "reason" happens. drama. girl either...
a) turns guy down immediately
b) goes on date but doesn't have very good time because she's too concerned about guy's intentions
either option further facilitates original statement: guys don't ask girls out.
an exception to this (perhaps THE exception to this) is if the girl likes the guy before he asks her out. in which case, neither "a" or "b" take place, but rather an unusual "c", whereby the girl goes on the date excitedly.
so, the question might be asked, "what caused this culture, robby?" and i would then give my theory..."the ever-so-popular gospel that one shouldn't date unless they are pursuing marriage."
now, before you Christian-non-daters freak out at me, let me unpack that statement. the point of that gospel is to prevent someone from wasting his (or her) time and, more importantly, making an idol of girl after girl after girl and getting their heart broken time and time and time again. but, as we people tend to do, we've taken what is a good principle and taken it to the extreme. now, the guy thinks, "i shouldn't ask a girl out unless i'm sure she's The One" and the girl thinks, "i should turn down the date unless i think he might be The One". the end result is we begin seeing people for who they could be, rather than who they are.
guys, why not take a girl out to make her feel special, and show her a good time? don't worry about what she could be...just enjoy who she is. if she could be, and she's meant to be, then she will be without you having to worry about it. girls, same principle. an acorn grows into an oak tree without worrying about how...it just happens...that's how God made it.
i think the marriage pursuit is an active-passive deal. actively, you desire it, pray for it, and take steps you believe might lead to it (in faith). passively, you wait for it, knowing that in the big picture it's way more about God doing something in another person's heart than about anything you can control.
Friday, February 03, 2006
objective: to enjoy what i do.
the store my roommate works at was closing and so, being the diligent man he is, he updated his resume and began passing them out to various potential employers. as any well-organized resume does, his resume gave his personal objective at the top: "to enjoy what i do". how profound, and obvious, yet so few people actually do it.
he told me, "if they can't offer me that, i'm not interested." stick it to the man, roomie!
the store my roommate works at was closing and so, being the diligent man he is, he updated his resume and began passing them out to various potential employers. as any well-organized resume does, his resume gave his personal objective at the top: "to enjoy what i do". how profound, and obvious, yet so few people actually do it.
he told me, "if they can't offer me that, i'm not interested." stick it to the man, roomie!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
men at work
half the elevators in the building where i work are under construction. this means when i click the down button, half the time the doors open the elevator is already full and there's no room for me. at lunch today i managed to squeeze on. the guy next to me says, "worst commute in atlanta...georgia 400 to marta to these elevators...i can't get to my desk! every one of them is under construction." i thought i had it bad.
half the elevators in the building where i work are under construction. this means when i click the down button, half the time the doors open the elevator is already full and there's no room for me. at lunch today i managed to squeeze on. the guy next to me says, "worst commute in atlanta...georgia 400 to marta to these elevators...i can't get to my desk! every one of them is under construction." i thought i had it bad.
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